Hmmmmm...WinePublications...

...is that, at some point after I submit my scores and reviews, the magazine contacts the winery.

Hmmmm....noted this on one Wine Editors blog. We are, of course, reassured time & time again that editorial departments of these wine publications are totally independent/isolated from the advertising departments. Which I guess we have to accept at face value.
But I've heard stories from some winemakers that these innocent "contacts" by the magazine can be pretty brutal in their solicitation of advertising from the winery in question.
Anybody have any anecdotes along those lines they'd care to share??
Tom

From operators of wine comp to a gold medal winner

As always we are always working to promote the winners of the wine competition, this year there will be a special 4-color supplement in the LA Times, Sunday, June 17th that will feature the winners of the competition. It has a circulation of over 925,000 copies ($24,000 value) and will run as a topper in all papers. If you are interested in advertising information in this supplement or more information, please contact Kathy Wadham (909) 865-xxxx at your earliest convenience. The deadline for the supplement is June 7, next Monday.

[David M. Bueker]

As long as the reviews are already completed what the heck does it matter?

Long ago ditched those black helicopters flying over my head.

I'm with David one this one. As long as the reviews are completed who cares. I think this is just "good business" as the highly reviewed wineries or "gold medal winers" are probably more likely to advertise than someone who got a 60 point score.

Completed and published are not the same. I worked for a winery that sent wines to be reviewed for a number of years and nothing was ever published. They always refused to advertise. Obviously the two points don't have to connect but then again I have not completely given up on the black helicopters and I still wear my tin foil hat at night.

[David M. Bueker]

Ok, but no publication has any obligation to publish any review.

I'm not a fan of WE (which I assume this is referring to), but I think Joe Cz is a standup guy and a damn good taster, and while I think Heimhoff has an elevated sense of his importance, I've never heard anyone accuse him of not being straightforward. I think either would object if there reviews were altered or not published. But the thinness of true content and the lack of broadness of tasting notes (I think they only taste what is sent) means it's a 3rd tier publication.

[David M. Bueker]

I cannot even recall the last time I read WE.

The only publicaiton I still get is Wine & Spritis, and that's because I really like some of the writing (e.g. Schildknecht writes for them on occasion). I never both with the reviews, as the selection is so narrow and random.

This practice is carried far and wide beyond the wine world. The "New Hampshire Magazine" regularly carries features such as best doctors in the state, best lawyers, best dentists, etc. Behind the awards are pages and pages of advertising by award recipiants.

I agree that there is noobligation to publish a review. I thought that what was being implied was that after the review was completed the publications approaches the winery about considering advertising in the magazine. It was not clear to me that the review was going to be published regardless or that future publication of reviews was not at risk. In fact I thougth it was implied that not advertising could impact the publication of reveiws. I know of some winemakers/owners that did believe and probably still do that there is a strong connection between advertising and publication of reviews as well as the scores received.

If one scratches someone else's back, but meanwhile has one's own back scratched by someone else, then the concurrency of the back scratching is but a conincidence.

I agree that there is noobligation to publish a review. I thought that what was being implied was that after the review was completed the publications approaches the winery about considering advertising in the magazine. It was not clear to me that the review was going to be published regardless or that future publication of reviews was not at risk. In fact I thougth it was implied that not advertising could impact the publication of reveiws. I know of some winemakers/owners that did believe and probably still do that there is a strong connection between advertising and publication of reviews as well as the scores received.

The impression that I get from Heimhoff and Matthews and others in the biz is that the reviewers sit up in their ivory towers,
totally insulated from the grimy $ side of the wine publication biz, pure as the driven snow, conducting their tastings totally blind,
and write their reviews w/ total unbiased objectivity. And I, more or less, believe this is probably true. They then pass these reviews
on to their editors and it's all done with.
After that, things become a little murky. The advertising side, seeing a good revenue opportunity, then will "contact" the winery, inform them
of this glowing review, and "suggest" that maybe the wnry wants to take out some advertising in the upcoming issue. And, I understand from several
winemakers, that this "suggestion" can be pretty forcefully communicated. Is there a quid pro quo....no advertising, then there may be no space available to
publish the review?? I haven't a clue. But I'd like to peer behind this green curtain and see what the Wizard of Oz is doing as he pushes buttons and pulls levers
during the editorial process.
Is the review returned to the pure-as-driven snow reviewer w/ a notation "non-advertiser" and suggestion that it be rewritten and
the score adjusted downward?? I tend to doubt that that happens. Do the editors decide that there is no space to publish the review and it disappears??
I haven't a clue. Do the editors "adjust" the score for these cheap "non-advertisers"? I would doubt it. Do the pure-as-driven snow reviewers look at the
printed product and wonder why so&so's review TN was not published?? I haven't a clue. Are there black helicopters flying overhead?? My office is pretty
soundproof, so I haven't a clue. Pretty much the story of my life...clueless, I guess. But sometimes I'd like to have a clue.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Whoop-whoop-whoop...there's those damn helicopters again.